In The Beginning…

In November 1989 Tim Berners-Lee developed Hypertext Transfer Protocol which facilitates communication between a terminal and a server which heralded the start of the internet as we know it. Prior to this, communication between terminal and servers existed only in academic and military contexts. 25 years later, Sir Tim Berners-Lee talked at the Web We Want festival (28th -31st May, 2015) about the development of a revised Web centred Magna-Carta that sets out privacy policy and the internet. This more than all the web artists and scholarly discussions, stipulates the potential of the web and how if multi-national corporations are not controlled, is open to abuse, with greater consequences than any other technological advancement since the industrial revolution.

Whilst watching an interview with artist Bill Viola, he talks of the alternative world he discovered when he fell into a lake and saw the under water environment, it was viewing this world that informed all his future work. I find this poignant and relevant to the world-wide web in that the web has several million alternative worlds that could potentially inform the aspiring artist if they take the time to explore what lies beneath.

It important to consider the ways that the internet can change the behaviour of vulnerable sectors of society, certain individuals have the potential of neurological changes that could be instigated by extended interaction with social media and various other web pages.

This was discussed during the Web use and Neuropsalitity t symposium that took place

In this age of rapid technological development, a panel of leading neuroscientists, developers and artists ask if technology is affecting the architecture of our brains.

Web We Want Festival – Southbank Centre 28th – 31st May 2015

Access to the creative tools that the internet provides to artists has without question changed the direction of creativity, particularly within young artist who have grown up only knowing the internet. Links to these artist are shown below. I would like to pose a question: What would these young artists produce if a blank canvas or lump of stone was placed in front of them? I wonder…